


In Another Story

by puffinmuffin13



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Character Death, Character Study, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Murder, Poetry, Unrequited Love, Why are the relationship tags for this fandom so complicated?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29914917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puffinmuffin13/pseuds/puffinmuffin13
Summary: What could Ashfur had been, if onlyWe'd heard of different stories?
Relationships: Ashfur (ThunderClan)/Brambleclaw (Warriors), Ashfur (ThunderClan)/Brambleclaw/Squirrelflight (Warriors), Ashfur (ThunderClan)/Squirrelflight (Warriors)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	In Another Story

In one story  
The story we all know  
Ashfur was cruel  
His love was made of obsession  
Turned bitter by what he saw as betrayal  
In the midst of a fire  
That threw embers at his paws  
He was willing to take three innocent lives for the "crime" of another  
Only to reveal a truth the three so wished was a lie  
And he let them go  
Burning trees around him like the burning hate in his heart  
And he met his end on a stony shore  
Throat ripped out by one of the three he nearly killed  
Nearly a murderer by fire  
The murdered lay in the water  
And his killer fled with the truth ringing to the moon  
But somehow, he walked among the stars

In another story, though  
His death gave him darkness and fog  
Scents that wrinkled his nose and prey that always evaded his claws  
He met another who was betrayed by her mate  
And legends he thought he'd never see  
This Ashfur walked down the road of hate and didn't stop  
The fire in his heart never ceasing; only growing  
As he charged into battle  
And ripped out the throat  
Of the cat he thought was meant to be his mate

In another story, though  
His love was never tarnished  
When the flames crept high he guided those who could have been trapped  
And when Squirrelflight asked if he held any grudge for no longer loving him  
He shook his head  
And was content as her friend  
And they fought side by side with the truth unrevealed

In another story, though  
He did not go for the kits he thought were hers  
But her mate, spilling his blood in the same river another Ashfur died   
Showing no remorse  
Only faked pity and grief  
He promised his love the comfort he offered was not an attempt to win her love back  
Who would, after all, do that to a grieving mate?  
But when she moved on  
And didn't chose him as her lover  
His fire burned and claws shot out  
Both of them dying for love that wasn't meant to be

In another story, though  
Squirrelflight did not love just one  
Ashfur and Brambleclaw balanced each other  
Keeping the other in check  
When one was too brash  
Or one was too calm  
Sparks would fly and all would be righted  
Claws and fur  
Not enemies; they'd never dream  
Of the things that happened in another story  
They loved the three kits as their own  
Not caring if either was the father of all and the other had no blood relation  
They were family  
Ever after the truth came out  
And a daughter, torn apart but with no blood on her paws, disappeared into a collapsing tunnel

In another story, though  
Ashfur never loved Squirrelflight  
He loved the one she took as her mate  
And he was so confused, so lost  
He turned his feelings on her  
Screaming at her in the midst of a fire  
Questions about what it all meant  
This Ashfur disappeared into the flames  
And met, at the Moonpool  
An elderly medicine cat who was familiar with fires  
And love that was so strange but just barely not forbidden  
And Ashfur, walking home dazed  
Met a cat near the side of the border  
Who was concerned about the fire  
Never one to be friendly with Windclan, Ashfur brushed him off  
Only to realize who this was and stop  
Ashfur asked Crowfeather what it meant  
To never be able to hold a love that lasted  
And when he came home, he apologized to the one he thought he loved  
But realized he never did

In another story, though  
Ashfur was never a close friend of Squirrelflight  
Staring at the brashness and recklessness of other warriors  
And realizing, with Brambleclaw's and Squirrelflight's union  
That this life was not meant for him  
He went to the Moonpool  
To Leafpool  
And finally to Firestar  
And with the announcement ringing out around the Thunderclan camp  
Ashfur raised his head high  
Promising to be the best medicine cat he could be  
And pushed away all thoughts of mates

In another story, though  
Ashfur was not so extremist  
He never threatened kits with a fire  
He learned, in time, to curb his heart's desire  
He apologized to the one he thought would be his love  
And became a warrior everyone could be proud of  
He noticed, however, the two weren't always so close  
And voiced concern to Leafpool over both them  
And his possible overreaction  
She said Starclan promised their fates were intertwined  
But then he asked if that meant they had to be mates  
And when Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw fell out yet another time  
Ashfur stepped in with Squirrelflight's sister at his side  
Squirrelflight had no mate by the time the Great Battle came  
But she didn't mind

In another story, though  
Ashfur never cared about mates  
Loving his friends and his work, but still  
Never fully understanding or connecting to "love"  
When Squirrelflight asked if he was mad she chose Brambleclaw  
He stared at her quizzically  
When Bumblestripe bothered Dovewing, Ashfur always told him off  
Was a mentor and friend to the gray she-cat  
He never took a mate, despite the queens gossiping  
And died a hero protecting their kits

In another world, though  
Ashfur never loved Squirrelflight as anything other than a friend  
And while saving the three he thought were her kits  
He slipped and fell into the fire  
Smoke and soot covering his pelt  
Until he lived up to his name

What could Ashfur had been, if only  
This wasn't the story we'd been told?

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at nearly midnight after seeing an Ashfur comic. Is this coherent or understandable? I guess I'll find out in the morning.


End file.
